RANGER ACTIVITIES DIVISION
                           MORNING REPORT

Attention: Directorate
           Regional and Park Chief Rangers, USPP, BIFC, FLETC
           Ranger Activities Division Information Network

Day/Date:  Monday, July 13, 1992

INCIDENTS

                        *** NOTICE ***

The release time for the morning report will be moved up to 0830 EDT
effective today in order to accommodate the increased volume of incident and
fire reports being received.

INCIDENTS

92-298 - Cape Cod (Massachusetts) - Follow-up on Piping Plover Closures

Six rangers and four US Fish and Wildlife Service special agents were in the
park over the Fourth of July weekend to help defuse the potentially volatile
situation brought about by the park's closure of beach ORV routes during
plover nesting and fledging, but no major incidents occurred.  Park
officials felt that poor weather, the presence of the additional personnel,
and continual communications between the park and ORV groups jointly
accounted for the lack of closure-related incidents.  Fledging has begun at
all plover nesting sites; an SCV camping area and part of the ORV corridor
on North Beach may soon be reopened.  [Ginny Rousseau, RCR, RAD/NARO, 7/9]

92-319 - Lincoln Home (Illinois) - Special Event

The annual LincolnFest Fourth of July celebration, which was held in an
18-block area of downtown Springfield, Illinois, around the park, attracted
over 225,000 visitors over July 4th and 5th.  The park itself had 33,000
visitors.  Three law enforcement rangers from Everglades assisted five law
enforcement rangers from the park in providing resource protection and crowd
control during the event.  Although no major law enforcement incidents were
reported, there were numerous incidents of public intoxication, disorderly
conduct and fireworks violations.  The festival's main stage and largest
alcohol concession booth were adjacent to the park.  Barricades, temporary
signs and high visibility patrols were utilized to enforce alcohol closures
within Lincoln Home NHS.  [RAD/MWRO, 7/8]

92-320- Everglades (Florida) - Drug Smuggling Indictments

On June 25th, indictments were issued in federal court charging 20 people
with importing or conspiring to import marijuana into the United States.
Those indicted are alleged to have smuggled over 100,000 pounds of marijuana
into Monroe, Collier and Lee counties during the 1980s, much of it through
the park.  One of the 20, J.H., was arrested by rangers in 1985
after he was discovered guarding a cache of 13,000 pounds of marijuana
valued at $8 million.  J.H. was later convicted of possession with
intent to distribute, and was sentenced to four years in prison.  Five of
those indicted are residents of the Everglades City area, which is
surrounded by the park; 13 others are residents of either Naples or Miami. 
Much of the marijuana originated in Columbia.  DEA and Customs are the lead
agencies in the investigation.  [Mark Lewis, LES, EVER, 7/3]

92-321 - Yosemite (California) - Rescue

While climbing on the Leaning Tower route near Bridalveil Falls on July 4th,
climber B.Y. dislodged a 50-pound flake of granite which fell
approximately 20 feet and struck his partner, D.B., in the forehead. 
D.B. was immediately knocked unconscious.  B.Y. climbed down to him and
yelled for help.  A passerby who heard him advised the park, and four
rangers and SAR team members were flown to the top of the route just prior
to nightfall.  Cardiac medic Dan Horner was lowered approximately 300 feet
on overhanging granite and soon reached D.B., who had since regained
consciousness.  Horner stabilized D.B. and attended him as the two were
lowered another 800 feet to the ground.  A carry-out team brought D.B.
down a steep talus field on belay.  He was transported to the park medical
clinic, then flown out to another medical facility where surgery was
performed on his fractured skull.  The prognosis for his recovery is
excellent, as no brain tissues was damaged or traumatized.  D.B. was
wearing a climbing helmet, which clearly saved his life.  [Rick Obernesser,
YOSE, 7/10]

92-322 - Yosemite (California) - Weapons and Drug Arrest

On Friday, July 3rd, rangers Jose Figueroa and Mike Welsh saw six Hell's
Angels on motorcycles travelling in formation through the Big Oak Flat
subdistrict.  When they committed an illegal pass, the rangers employed
lights and sire in an attempt to stop them at a large turnout; although the
motorcyclists slowed down, they refused to stop.  After passing several more
turnouts, the group finally pulled across the oncoming lane and into a paved
turnout.  The rangers ordered the group to stay seated on their motorcycles
until directed to do otherwise, but refused to comply until Figueroa drew a
shotgun from his patrol vehicle.  After ranger Jessica Rust arrived to
provide additional assistance, the subjects' drivers licenses were collected
and checked.  One member of the group, F.D., 28, had a record
as an officer safety risk.  He'd been riding in what is known as the
"enforcer" position in the formation.  Figueroa noticed that F.D. was
highly agitated and kept reaching his right hand toward the unfastened
saddlebags on his motorcycle.  Figueroa ordered him off the bike, then
checked the saddlebag, where he found a Smith and Wesson Model 639
semi-automatic pistol, loaded and chambered, just under the saddlebag's flap. 
F.D. was taken into custody for possession of the firearm.  While
searching F.D., rangers found a bundle of cocaine, a baggie of marijuana,
pills of unknown substance, and a hidden slot in hist belt which was
designed to carry a handcuff key.  He was charged with possession of a
firearm and controlled substances.  [Leslie Crossland, YOSE, 7/9]

92-323 - Lake Mead (Nevada) - Drowning

A.P., two, was playing in the water in a small rubber raft at
South beach on July 6th when the wind caused the raft to drift from shore
and eventually overturn.  The boy was retrieved by rangers who were
patrolling in the area, but resuscitation efforts failed and he was
pronounced dead at the scene.  The boy's father had been watching him, but
had been distracted when the accident occurred.  [Allene Vassar, LAME, 7/6]

92-324 - Rocky Mountain (Colorado) - MVA with Fatality

L.L.E., 43, of Lakewood, Colorado, was driving his 1992 Ford Probe
on Trail Ridge Road near Rock Cut on July 4th when the car went off the
road, rolled numerous times, and came to rest at a point 1,500 feet below
the road.  L.L.E. was thrown from the vehicle as it rolled down the slope
and was killed.  Body recovery entailed a scree evacuation across 500 feet
of snow and tundra on a slope sometimes exceeding 60 degrees.  The park's
technical team used a counterbalance raise, a Cascade litter and a total of
14 people to complete the recovery in two hours.  The vehicle remains in
Forest Canyon pending removal by helicopter or by other means.  According to
an eyewitness, L.L.E.'s driving appeared normal until his vehicle veered
sharply from the road without warning or application of brakes.  He was the
sole occupant.  The cause of the accident is under investigation.  [Joe
Evans, CR, ROMO, 7/6]

92-325 - Gettysburg (Pennsylvania) - MVA with Fatality

At 2:23 a.m. on the morning of July 5th, D.S., 27, was travelling
at a high rate of speed on Route 15 through the park when his pick-up truck
struck a utility pole and several sections of fence.  He was taken to
Gettysburg Hospital, then flown to York Hospital with massive head injuries,
where he died the following day.  D.S., a local resident, was the only
occupant in the vehicle, and it appears unlikely that he was wearing his
seatbelt.  the accident is being jointly investigated by rangers and
township police.  Alcohol was a contributing factor.  [Joe Bowden, LES,
GETT, 7/6]

92-326 - Whiskeytown (California) - Dynamite Theft

On July 7th, 1,150 pounds of dynamite were stolen from a Cal Trans magazine
storage facility in the Crystal Creek area of the park.  ATF is the lead
agency in the investigation of the theft; rangers and county sheriff's
deputies are assisting.  [Paul Berkowitz, LES, WHIS, 7/8]

92-327 - Everglades and Big Cypress (Florida) - Cocaine Seizure

A twin-engine Piper Aerostar dropped ten bales of cocaine into the norther
portion of the park while being pursued by Customs aircraft on the afternoon
of July 1st.  Radar observers had spotted the Aerostar flying from the
Bahamas toward the eastern United States at an extremely low altitude, and
Customs had dispatched a Blackhawk helicopter and a Citation fixed-wing
aircraft to pursue the plane.  They trailed it across the park to a remote
landing strip, at which point confederates on the ground apparently notified
the Aerostar's crew that they were being followed.  The plane turned and
flew back across the park, dumping bales of cocaine as it went.  One bale
fell in Big Cypress and ten more landed in Everglades.  Everglades and Big
Cypress rangers worked the access points into the glades, contacting people
from their airboats, while Customs agents recovered the cocaine using their
helicopters.  The pilot and his passenger were arrested when the plane
landed at Homestead General Airport on the east boundary of Everglades. 
Prior to landing, all of the bales were dropped from the plane; one struck a
church in Homestead, while another landed at a location where the Homestead
police chief was speaking at a neighborhood crime watch meeting.  The bales,
which weighed about 65 pounds each, were valued at $2.5 million each.  The
total value of the cocaine seized on NPS lands was placed at about $27.5
million.  [Mark Lewis, LES, EVER, 7/10]

FIRE ACTIVITY

1) FIRE SITUATION - Preparedness Level I

2) FIRE SUMMARY

State  Agency     Area           Fire                7/12    7/13    Status

 OR    USFS   Winema NF       * Modoc - T2            643     519    CND

 WA    State  -               * Mud Lake                -   1,500    CND

 ID    BLM    Boise Dist.     * Shoe Peg                -     250    CL

 FL    USFS   Apalachicola NF * Wild One              400     506    CN 7/13
              Ocala NF        * Juniper Wilderness      -   2,015    CN 7/13

NOTES:

- Fires - Asterisk indicates newly reported fire (on this report). T1 and T2
  indicate assigned Type I and Type II Teams.
- Status - The following abbreviations are employed:

  NR - No report received      MS - Modified suppression strategy
  CL - Controlled              MN - Being monitored
  CS - Confinement strategy    NEC - No estimate of containment
  CN (date) - Expected date    CND - Contained
     of containment            DM - Demob in progress

3) FIRE REPORT HIGHLIGHTS - No significant fire activity.

4) FIRE ACTIVITY - 112 fires for 8,237 acres in past 24 hours.

5) ANALYSIS - Minimal activity is occurring.  Several units in the West 
   report very high indices.

6) PROGNOSIS - No resource shortages expected.

[NIFCC Intelligence Section, 7/13]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

No field reports today.

OPERATIONAL NOTES

1) Apologies for the disruption in morning report transmittals last week. 
An effort was made to produce and disseminate them from a remote location
via both cc:Mail and CompuServe, but the local phone lines proved incapable
of handling data transmissions.  All pending incident reports which do not
appear today will be in tomorrow's morning report.  [Bill Halainen,
RAD/WASO]

CALENDAR

Calendar appears in the morning report every other Monday.  If you know of a
conference, meeting or training session with Servicewide interest and
implications, please provide the specifics to Bill Halainen in Ranger
Activities.  Entries are listed no earlier than four months before the
event.  An asterisk (*) indicates a new entry; a plus (+) indicates a
revised entry.  Brackets at end of entry indicate source of information:

August 9 - 14 - Fourth Annual Conference of the Society for Ecological
Restoration, Waterloo, Ontario.  Themes will include park and forest
management, regional landscape planning, environmental education and
community-based restorations.  Guided field trips are planned to restoration
sites.  For further information, contact Nik Lopoukhine, Natural Resources
Branch, Environment Canada, 10 Wellington Street, Hull, Quebec K1A 0H3
(819-997-4900). [Kathy Jope, RAD/PNRO]

August 16 - 21 - Managerial Grid: Phase I, Tampa, FL.  Sponsored by
Southeast Regional Office and ANPR.  Sixty-hour seminar on problem-solving
techniques for resolving managerial dilemmas.  Open to managers, supervisors
and staff specialists at all levels and in all occupational series.  For
further information, contact either Bill Wade at Shenandoah NP (703-999-3400)
or Norma Patten, Employee Development, SERO (404-331-4881).  [Bill
Wade, SHEN]

September 13 - 17 - Fourth International Wetlands Conference, Columbus, OH. 
The conference will emphasize the global extent and role of wetlands and new
and traditional approaches to wetland restoration and monitoring.  For more
information, contact W.J. Mitsch, School of Natural Resources, Ohio State
University, Columbus, OH 43210 (Fax:614-292-7162).  [Kathy Jope, RAD/PNRO]

September 14 - 18 - "Teaching with Historic Places", training course,
Montpelier, VA.  Participants will use existing lesson plans as models to
create lesson plans based on historic resources in their parks.  Montpelier
is a National Trust property.  The application deadline is July 1st.  For
additional information, contact Beth Boland of the National Register staff
at 202-343-9545.  [Marilyn Harper, WASO]

September 21 - 25 - "Teaching with Historic Places", training course,
Waterford, VA.  Participants will use existing lesson plans as models to
create lesson plans based on historic resources in their parks.  Waterford
is a NHL district.  The application deadline is July 1st.  For additional
information, contact Beth Boland of the National Register staff at 202-343-9545.
[Marilyn Harper, WASO]

+ September 21 - 25 - National Training Workshop on Status and Management of
Neotropical Migratory Birds, Estes Park, CO.  The workshop will present a
current scientific assessment of the status of terrestrial neotropical
migratory birds and their habitats and the influence of land use practices
on the prognosis for long-term survival of these birds.  The workshop will
close with an optional one-day field trip to Rocky Mountain NP. 
Registration fee $75.  For reservation information, contact NTMB Workshop,
c/o Gordon Hazard, Office of Conference Services, Rockwell Hall, Colorado
State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523 (303-491-6222); for further
information, call John Dennis, WASO Wildlife and Vegetation (202-343-8128). 
[Flip Hagood, EDD/WASO]

* September 14 - 17 - Third Conference on Fossil Resources in the NPS,
Fossil Butte NM, WY.  The park is hosting a four-day paleontological
resources conference which is directed toward managers, resource
specialists, law enforcement specialists, curators and interpreters. 
Several researchers will also be involved.  For further information, contact
Rachel Benton at 307-877-4455.  [David McGinnis, SUPT, FOBU]

September 15 - 17 - Introduction to Satellite Navigation in Resource
Management, Lubrecht Experimental Forest Satellite Navigation Field
Evaluation Facility, University of Montana, Missoula, MT.  For further
information, contact the Center for Continuing Education, University of
Montana, at 406-243-4623.  [Kathy Jope, RAD/PNRO]

* September 17 - 20 - "Inequality and the Commons", conference, Stauffer
Mayflower Hotel, Washington, D.C.  The conference, which is sponsored by the
International Association for the Study of Common Property, will provide an
excellent opportunity to share ideas with others and to learn about common
property issues in a range of ecological and cultural settings.  The
registration fee is $120.  For more information, call the International
Center for Development Policy at 202-547-3800.  [Dave Reynolds, CRM/MARO]

October 5 - 9 - "Ecology and Management of Larix Forests: A Look Ahead",
Grouse Mountain Lodge, MT.  Registration will be limited.  This
international symposium is sponsored in part by the NPS and by the USFS. 
Contact the Center for Continuing Education, University of Montana,
Missoula, MT 59812-1900 at 406-243-4623.

STAFF STATUS

Division Chief: Brady conducting field interviews for "Ranger Futures"
project (7/13-7/15).

Branch of Resource and Visitor Protection: Henry at aircraft overflight
contract meeting, Boston, MA (7/13-7/17); Marriott at meeting at Lake Mead,
NV (7/12-7/22).

Branch of Fire and Aviation: Hurd at IFF fire education task force meeting,
Boise, ID (7/13-7/17); Spruill at DOI aviation meeting, Boise, ID (7/13-7/17);
Norum and Gale conducting fire reviews at Isle Royale, Sleeping Bear
Dunes, Pictured Rocks, and Indiana Dunes (7/13-7/25); Botti and Rutter at
WASO budget meeting (7/13-7/15); Crabtree in training, Denver, CO (7/13-7/17).

Prepared by WASO Division of Ranger Activities

Telephone:  Branch of R&VP - FTS 268-4874/6039 or 202-208-4874/6039
            Branch of F&A (WASO) - FTS 268-5572/5573 or 202-208-5572/5573

Telefax:    Branch of R&VP - FTS 268-6756 or 202-208-6756
            Branch of F&A (WASO) - FTS 268-5977 or 202-208-5977

CompuServe: Branch of R&VP - WASO-RANGER
            Branch of F&A (WASO) - WASO-FIRE-WO

cc:Mail     Branch of R&VP - WASO Ranger Activities
            Branch of F&A (WASO) - WASO Fire and Aviation